AN: Ok, I couldn't help myself. I say that when you get the muse for a specific story you should go with it. And that's what I did. I do not own any characters from Bones or InuYasha. Oh, and this is based on another challenge by YukimuraShuusukeGirl.

"Angela, do you know when Hodgins is going to make the announcement?" Camille Saroyan asked the artist quietly, eyes darting around to check to make sure that said man wasn't within earshot.

Clark Edison groaned aloud. Here it was again: work time, and they were talking about something completely unrelated to forensics. Again. But what else was new? For awhile he had thought he had been done with them and their off-topic tangents, but apparently not. No, he had been invited back to the Jeffersonian. As it was, no matter how annoying it was to have to put up with this, in the end he knew it would be worth it. Working under Dr. Brennan would help him in the long run. At least, that was what he kept telling himself in order to keep himself from quitting each and every time he worked a case with these people.

"No idea," Angela responded to the other woman's question. "He won't even tell me." She scoffed. "You know, he's being really weird about it too."

"Weird?"

"Yeah. Like when I asked him he just gave me a vague answer and started rambling about a new kind of insect."

Dr. Saroyan hummed. "That is weird. But I guess men can get all secretive and evasive like that sometimes."

Clark rolled his eyes. He was slightly tempted to say something, but his desire to keep out of their conversation won out. It was always better, he had found, to try and avoid getting dragged in as much as possible. Sometimes though, it seemed that it was just impossible to not be dragged in. And, quite unfortunately in his opinion, this was one such time.

"Oh, sorry Clark. I forgot you were standing there."

"I really don't care," he responded to her. "I'm just trying to actually do work here for once."

Angela grinned. "Hey, Clark. Are you still seeing that girl you told us about awhile ago?"

How had he gotten into this conversation again? Oh right, he hadn't. And yet for some reason the woman just didn't seem capable of realizing that fact. Once again he couldn't help but wonder if it was really worth getting taught by Dr. Brennan. Probably not...

"I don't see how that's related to the case," Clark muttered through gritted teeth. Stay calm, he reminded himself. Getting mad wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Ah, but I'm married now," Angela pouted. "I want to live vicariously through someone."

"Why not me?" Cam asked her. There was a moment of silence before she let out a brief sigh. "Oh, right. Nevermind."

"I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that it'd be nice to know something about Clark here. He's always so... secretive."

That's because I like my privacy, Clark thought to himself. Aloud he said, "Like I said before, I really don't need to be included in everything. I don't want to be included even." Glancing up at Angela from the femur he was examining he continued, "Find someone else to live vicariously through." Returning his attention to the femur he missed the looks the two women exchanged with each other.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Three hours had passed and he hadn't been asked one personal question and no one had gone off the subject of the murder of fifteen-year-old Amelia Johnson. Clark was officially in Heaven. Or at least as close to Heaven as he could come, seeing as how he was still alive.

"Hey Clark, have you found anything out about the murder weapon yet?" Dr. Saroyan asked as she walked into the bone room.

He almost sighed. There went his peace and quiet. "Not yet Dr. Saroyan. I'm still working on it."

"Well tell me when you find something so I can tell Booth."

"I know," he muttered. "I've done this before."

Cam frowned. "What was that, Mr. Edison?"

"Nothing, Dr. Saroyan."

She nodded and turned. "Oh yeah." Turning back she said, "There's someone here to see you."

Clark froze in his movements. "Here... to see me?" he repeated dumbly, confused. Who would be there to see him? All of his friends knew not to come to his work. At least, he was mostly sure that they all knew not to. All of them except... he blanched. It couldn't be her, could it? But she was the only likely suspect. "I'll be right out."

Cam nodded again and left the room, leaving one very anxious intern.

If she was here, that was definitely bad. She was the type of person who wouldn't think there was anything wrong with telling everyone he worked with all about his personal life. Best to hurry and try to stop her from telling to much. By this point he had completely ruled out the possibility that anyone else could be there to see him. After stripping off the rubber gloves he wore he all but ran out of the room.

He grimaced at what he saw. There was a young, short Asian woman with long black hair and vibrant brown eyes, laughing. He had been right. It was her. Great. Just great. This was all he needed. And... yep, there was Angela and Hodgins talking to her. And Cam had almost reached them. There were just three words that popped into his head: I. Am. Doomed.

Swallowing what little self-esteem he had left he prepared himself for the worst as he made his way over to them. As he neared them the Asian woman looked up and smiled brightly.

"Clark!" she exclaimed happily. "I thought I'd stop by to ask if you wanted to go out to get some lunch with me?"

Why oh why couldn't she have called him? She owned a cell phone, he knew she did. He had seen it. He had called it. He had been called from it. And yet no, she had decided to come down to ask him. Although he knew she meant no harm, he couldn't help but feel slightly angry with her.

"Kagome, I'm kind of busy with work," he told her.

She frowned. "What, they don't give you any time off to eat?" She cut her eyes to Cam. "Do you?"

"Of course I do," Cam responded evenly. She turned to Clark. "Why don't you go get some food with her? She's your friend, isn't she?"

Clark froze. She hadn't told them? His eyes went to her almost as though of their own accord. Slowly she shook her head, an answer to the unspoken question.

"Uh... yeah. Friend. That's right. She's a uh... friend," he stammered.

At this point Hodgins decided to chime in on the conversation, "Dude," he laughed, "What's wrong with you? You're never this nervous. What, is she your girlfriend or something?"

"G-girlfriend?" Kagome let out a nervous laugh. "No way would I date such a boring scientist guy." Everyone turned to stare at her and she flinched. "Um... did I... say something wrong?"

No one said anything. Kagome continued to look more and more nervous, so eventually Clark stepped in, unable to take it any longer.

"Alright, fine. Yes, Kagome is my girlfriend. There, happy? I have a girlfriend, and you've all met her. Now she and I are going to lunch. When I get back - alone - I don't want questions."

Hodgins was the first to say anything, and his response was only a congratulatory, "Dude!"

In a way that one word was actually very comforting. It seemed to help relieve the tension in the air, and it could hardly be considered a question. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad that they knew.

"Oh my god Clark, why didn't you tell us you were still seeing somebody?" Angela blurted out in a half-joking accusatory manner. "

At the same time Cam asked, "Why didn't you want anyone to find out?"

...or maybe it would be bad.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

That night as they were lying in bed Kagome brought up the subject from earlier that day again. "So... Clark... why didn't you tell them about me?"

He sighed. It had been one long, trying day, and although he didn't really want to get into it he knew he had to say something to placate her before her temper started to rear its ugly head.

"You saw how they acted. They were like vultures or something."

She giggled. "Yeah, they sort of were a bit pushy."

"Pushy is the mild term for what they are," he quipped dryly.

Kagome made a sound of agreement as she ran her fingers along his arm. "Maybe... but all the same, I still wonder... was there another reason?"

"Well yeah, of course there was."

"Oh? And what was it?"

"At work I want to just do my work," he said.

"Huh? Well... what do you mean?"

"While I'm working on a case I like to focus just on that case. I feel like that's the least I can do to respect the dead. Talking about my social life or other peoples' social lives would be unfair to them."

"I see..."

Clark's lips twitched into a small smile. "You think I'm nuts, don't you?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. It makes perfect sense to me. But other people may think you're crazy if you tell them. Although... I think the people you work with might just get it too. They seemed like good people."

"Yeah, maybe," he agreed, somewhat hesitantly.

"You never know until you say something."

"Yeah, but then again I may never want to know."

"There's that."

"Besides, sometimes it's just better as it is."

"There's that too."

Kagome yawned suddenly. "Sorry," she murmured tiredly a few seconds later. "I guess I'm sleepier than I thought."

"Can't blame you," Clark said. He wrapped an arm around her small frame and pulled her closer so he could plant a kiss on the top of her dark head. "Thanks for today. You were really something."

She mumbled something unintelligible that sounded something like, "That's 'cause I am something."

"You really are," he told her. "I owe you one, Kags." And he really did.

EN: Okay, so not my best work, but I still like it. For a one shot it isn't too bad. At least I don't think it is. Especially for something that was written in the middle of the night. Anyway, reviews are appreciated!

The timeline for this story is between the start of season 6 and episode 7, "The Babe in the Bar".